8 replies to this topic

[ZEN12many]

Since April 2011, I have been actively training our family dog, Sky, to pull me in my wheelchair. We go out every day and she pulls me two to three miles. I began wondering what equipment and what training tips other wheelchair occupants might be able to provide regarding this activity. After all, I thought, it must be pretty common; it is such a natural - dogs help blind people, dogs help deaf people, of course dogs pull people who can't walk.

I guess I was wrong. It is not common. The activity doesn't even have a name. You can't google it. If you enter "dog pulls wheelchair" you get lots of hits on wheelchairs for paralyzed dogs. Look up "dog sports" in wikipedia and they list dogs pulling carts, bikes, scooters, sleds, skiers, but not wheelchairs.

Why is it not more popular? It took me years before I tried it; didn't even think of it. I didn't think of it because I had never-ever seen anyone in a wheelchair being pulled by a dog. QUESTION 1: Have you ever seen, in real life (not internet, tv, magazine, etc.), someone in a wheelchair being pulled by a dog?OK, it can never become popular if it doesn't have a name. I am tired of referring to it as "my dog and I are going out for her to pull me in my wheelchair". For a name, I am suggesting "Wheelchair Mushing". I am not real crazy for the name (not sexy sounding) but it seems to capture the activity in just two words. QUESTION 2: Is there any other name for this activity that you know of AND, if not, what do you think of "wheelchair mushing" as a name?
Finally, QUESTION 3: If you and your dog go "Wheelchair Mushing", please describe what you do. If not, why haven't you tried it?[I plan to post two to three more threads regarding "Wheelchair Mushing" and then I will shut up about it; yeah don't bet on that].

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[Tetracyclone]

Go here



I have heard it referred to as "pulling"

Edited by Tetracyclone, 04 July 2011 - 11:59 AM.

[t8burst]

I have been raising english mastiffs for about 20 years. Back in WW1 they were used in the battlefield by the English to pull ammunition carts. There are also contests for mastiffs to see how much they can pull (some can pull a sled loaded with up to 1000 pounds). That being said they are not smart dogs and I wouldn't trust one to pull me, if my current mastiff saw a squirrel while pulling me it would not be a fun ride. Anyway google "mastiff weight pulling" and you will see some examples.

t8

[monkeyman]

Hi Rodney,

I've been doing this with my bulldog(s) for a while now. It started by chance as i tied my dog lead to my chair and made my way uphill and he seemed to love pulling me! I have now invested in a proper pull harness that i attach a lead to and tie to my chair. He is very strong and enjoys pulling me this way... he actually waits at the bottom of hills for me to attach him so he can pull!
I've also invested in a freewheel and this makes things even more fun we can get up quite a speed when we go for it!

As for a name, never really thought about it? I'm not bothered to be honest, i just enjoy getting out with my dogs and getting away from the confine of the office!

Cheers, Stevie

[ZEN12many]

Hi Stevie
Your story sounds just like mine. I got interested in the same way. My wife was trying to push me uphill & I was holding the dog's leash. I could tell the dog was helping even though the collar she had on was supposed to prevent pulling. So I bought a harness and tried my dog out. I tried about a half hour with my wife helping and then the next day another half hour with just me and the dog. It went well but I thought the wheelchair was too unstable. Months later, with a better harness, I decided to try again. This time I went out with the dog everyday for about an hour. After about five days, I could see this could actually work and was loads of fun. More importantly, my dog just loves it. She would much rather pull me than go on a walk beside my electric scooter.

My concern is only that I think others might be missing out on some real fun. So, I at least want for people to be able to google the activity and actually find something relevant. When I get more info, I plan on updating wikipedia to add "wheelchair mushing" and a description of the activity.

I found it interesting that you hook up your dogs directly to your wheelchair. I do to. I used to have a very crude "quick disconnect" but I found that it beat up my legs too much (it was made from an old tent stake). Also, in an emergency situation, my instinct was to grab the wheels (not hit the eject button) and bring it all under control. I found, so far, that I can slow my dog, if needed, even when she sees a rabbit or those pesky birds that run around on the ground just in front of us.

I am going to get a freewheel someday.

Thanks for responding.

[mellowgator]

i have a canine companion who is trained to pull my wheelchair. she has a harness and i have a short leash so i have control of the dog while i'm being pulled. as i lean to the left or right we turn together. the command is simply called "pull". it is great fun.


mellowgator

[Jacey]

I am a husky owner and we call this 'scootering or dog-scootering' but it can also be called 'mushing', all are general terms for a sport or transport method powered by dogs pulling non motorised transport devices most commondly kick sleds and kick scooters , and includes carting, pulka, scootering, sled dog racing, skijoring, freighting, and weight pulling. We live in sunny Central Queensland, Australia, so our dogs wouldn't know what snow is buy we modified a manual go-cart which worked extremely well.

I am trying to think of how to make scootering sound 'sexy', maybe add a few ooooo's and go scoooooooootering...

[wheelzoffortune]

What an awesome idea! I actually did this a while ago, but unintentionally. The dog was walking me rather than the other way around. :-p

[baldfatdad]

We always called it skijooring. A Norwegian term for some one being pulled on the snow. They use to use dogs to help pull mailmen.
A buddy of mine had me make a harness for his dog. We hooked it to the chair at the bend by his knees, with a five, six foot bungee. They would take off down the road like a bat-outa-hell. The bungee took some of the jerk off the dog and him.